Ben Koolen
Solutions Lead
Ben Koolen is Solutions Lead at SCHMACK. He is responsible for the technical quality of everything the agency delivers; making sure solutions are built properly from the start, streamlined and functional.
A big part of that is working at the front end of projects alongside the senior team, shaping how solutions are built before they go into delivery; creating proof of concepts, testing new tools, and working out how emerging technology actually applies to clients before it becomes a conversation. Right now most of that attention is on AI decisioning through Braze; moving away from rigid lifecycle journeys toward more adaptive, personalised engagement that responds to how customers actually behave rather than forcing them down a fixed path.
In this session Ben covers what the right technical foundations actually look like; how to build CRM infrastructure in Braze that runs without constant intervention, and how AI decisioning is changing what is possible for teams that have those foundations in place.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Made to Last: Building a CRM Strategy that outlives the moment
8:00 AM - 9:15 AM
CRM has been through a lot over the past 20 years; automation promised speed, mobile put it in your pocket, and AI said it would do it for you. Each era left behind the brands still optimising for the last one.
The next shift is already here. AI has taken a lot of the manual work off the table; solid foundations, deliberate strategy and the right technical setup are what separates the programmes that last from the ones that need rebuilding.
In this session SCHMACK will cover what that looks like in practice; how to build CRM that runs without constant intervention, how to plan for the customer experience rather than just the commercial goal, and how to put the internal structure in place that lets programmes scale rather than spiral.